Toothpaste
by jellyfishheart
Summary: Something short involving toothpaste, mini!Brittana, older Brittana, and Lord Tubbington. One-shot.


**Author's note: A bit of fluff to combat all the angst in everything else I'm writing. Because Brittana was always on. Also, toothpaste.**

"Is there an expiration date on toothpaste?"

After dropping a pair of Cheerios sweats into the cardboard box (_for the memories_, she thinks), Santana pops her head out the closet door and quirks her eyebrows at Brittany, who's just walked out of the bathroom holding a decrepit pink tube of toothpaste.

"¿_Que?_" she asks, tilting her head. "Britt, that looks like you jacked it from a dumpster."

Brittany glances down at the tube in her hand and flashes it a funny smile, running her thumb down the front. "It's seen better days. It is pretty old," she admits. "But do you think it's expired?"

Curious, Santana rises from her knees and makes her way over to Brittany, taking the toothpaste from her and turning it over in her hands. The _Barbie_ logo nearly blinds her for a moment with all that pink and she grins, catching her bottom lip with her teeth. The tube's half-empty and almost squeezed flat in the middle, completely how she was taught _not_ to squeeze toothpaste. Mami actually sat her down for an hour-long lesson on proper toothpaste tube etiquette when she was 10, after—

"Hey Britt, where'd you say you found this?"

A faint blush rises in Brittany's cheeks as she toes the ground, avoiding Santana's gaze. "W- you know… It's um, it's yours. From when we were, uh… ten. The sleepover?"

_The sleepover_. Santana's eyes light up at the memory and she shakes her head slightly, unable to dull the beaming smile on her face. The sleepover where Brittany made a fort in her closet and they locked themselves in it with her two kittens, Charity and Lord Tubbington, who spent the night batting around a pair of balled-up socks and biting Santana's toes. The night where Santana and Brittany spent half an hour in the bathroom, brushing their teeth until the pink toothpaste foamed up their mouths and they growled at each other like rabid dogs and Brittany pretended to bite Santana, who later sought her revenge with a well-executed whack from a pillow.

"You kept it?" Santana asks shyly, tilting Brittany's chin up with two fingers so she can meet her eyes.

Brittany nods and shrugs lightly, her ears as pink as the tube in Santana's hands. "You left it in my sink and after that night I thought… I just wanted something to remember it by. I didn't really understand it then." Her lips tug down in the corners for a moment. "Whenever I got sad after that I'd foam up my mouth all pink and growl at the mirror."

Santana wraps her arms around Brittany and pulls her into a hug, rocking her weight from one foot to the other. "I love you."

The night stretched on way past midnight and Santana pushed and pouted until Brittany promised it could be their first all-nighter, despite Mrs. Pierce's warnings to get an early bed. Giddy and high on breaking the rules, Santana danced around in her Barbie nightgown (it was a _phase_, okay?) and pulled her best friend onto the bed, her arms falling perfectly around Brittany's waist. She wondered if they were secretly one person split apart in two bodies and held Brittany closer, seeing if she could crawl back inside Brittany's heart where she thought she probably came from. All it did was make Santana's own heart race faster than she thought possible and she swore she was having a heart attack until Brittany laughed and rolled over, their faces suddenly so close.

"I love you too," Brittany replies, leaning down to nuzzle Santana's nose with her own.

Santana ducks her head, cheeks hot, and wiggles away from the embrace. "Well," she coughs. "This is definitely coming with us to the apartment."

Both girls watch silently as the tube of toothpaste flies through the air, landing perfectly in the middle of an open cardboard box, on top of a stuffed duck.

They were breathing the exact same air. Santana couldn't think apart from "this is Britt's breath in my lungs" on a loop in her head and she wondered when Brittany's lips got so pink and soft. She felt like screaming or ripping the skin off her chest to find the beating heart inside – anything to alleviate all the pressure in the quickened thud-thuds. Then Brittany inched her face closer, blonde hair falling down onto Santana's cheek. _One person,_ she thought. _Definitely_.

She'd heard all the lesbian jokes at home courtesy of her older brothers and she vaguely knew what it meant, that it wasn't _right_, but up until this moment she'd never considered it was just two girls with hearts and feelings and soft, pink lips. It wasn't something she ever thought applied to her (or ever wanted to apply to her, given how Mami glared at her brothers when they told those jokes) but Brittany was right there and her hot breath felt perfect on Santana's lips and if she moved a _little_ closer, she could just—

"I can't believe we're finally getting out of here," Brittany says, blue eyes shining with awe. "Eighteen years of Lima and we can… It's a huge city, San. We can be whoever we want to be in our own apartment. Going to _college_. I never thought I was smart enough for anything like this. I never thought we'd… escape."

Santana slips under Brittany's arm and leans into her, suddenly overwhelmed with all her feelings. But it's different this time – she's not angry or scared. "I want to be Santana Lopez, future wife of Brittany Pierce. And you know, maybe a cat owner." She grins as Brittany's face lights up. "_Maybe_."

"We'll get two cats so they won't be lonely," Brittany starts, bending down to scratch behind old Lord Tubbington's ears. He purrs as loud as a lawnmower, practically smiling with his grey mug.

"Two kids, too?" Santana asks, her chest fluttering with excitement.

Brittany nods furiously. "But one of them has to look like you and we're buying a baby sombrero. Ooh! And little maracas and a poncho and—"

"Britt!" Santana laughs. "That's just so wrong."

Santana met Brittany's gaze and something inside her seemed to click, telling her _yes. Now. Do it_. Pulse racing and palms sweating, she leaned upwards slightly and pressed her lips into Brittany's, shutting her eyes. Warmth shot throughout her entire body as Brittany's mouth opened a tiny bit and she really was breathing in Brittany – tasting her and becoming part of her like she thought she should be all along. When they parted, Brittany's eyes sparkled with something Santana had never seen before and she pressed her forehead into Santana's, breathing heavily. They stayed like that until the sun came up, on top of the covers, sharing the same sweet air.

"Can I at least put sombreros on our cats?" Brittany asks, leaving Santana to pick up her potato sack of a cat.

"Fine," Santana relents. "But let's at least wait until we've settled into the place and sorted out our schedules before we bring the fuckers home. I don't want them to be unhappy. I don't want _you_ to be unhappy."

With all the grace of an angel, Brittany twirls across the room, cradling her cat like a swaddled infant, and pauses at the mouth of the closet. "Remember when you were stuck in here?"

"You locked me in," Santana says, rolling her eyes.

Brittany sets Lord Tubbington down in one of the boxes and folds her arms over her chest. "I was trying to keep you safe from your mom. She was angry, remember?"

"Yeah," Santana replies, momentarily shutting her eyes. _She was always angry_.

"I'm sorry it happened like it did," Brittany murmurs. "I wish she could see past the labels and love you for the amazing person you are because she'd be so proud of how strong and marvellous you are, Santana. _I'm_ proud of you. My parents are super proud of you. And our kids will think you're the greatest woman on this planet because you'll teach them Spanish and sing them to sleep and accept them for whoever they are."

Tears filling her eyes, Santana glances upwards and shakes her head, smiling. "Greatest woman apart from you, maybe. You'll be getting the Number One Mom mugs, B. And I'll hold their little hands when they give them to you."

Santana crosses the room, carefully stepping over the boxes and nodding once at the pink tube of toothpaste. She tangles her fingers with Brittany's and presses herself up into the taller girl, resting her head on Brittany's chest.

"I'm not sorry for how it happened because I've had the immense pleasure of living with you for the past year," she mumbles, cheek hot against Brittany's skin. "You're my family, Britt. You always have been. You always will be."

Brittany presses her lips to Santana's forehead and hums a lullaby into the soft skin. "I've loved you since we were kids, you know."

"I know, B. Me too."

"Since before I knew what it was and what it meant. And my only regrets are any days not spent telling you how much you mean to me." Brittany finishes speaking by leaning down to capture Santana's lips with her own, breathing _I love you_ into the kiss. _You're my everything. I love you. You're mine._


End file.
